Viewers turn a queer eye on reality

Australia went gay on Monday night, if you judge by the television audience figures. The official ratings season doesn't start until next Sunday, but channels Nine and Ten launched early this week, trying to catch Seven off guard.

If viewers had followed last year's pattern, the most watched show of Monday would have been the American sitcom Friends on Nine, as fans rushed to discover if Joey would "do it" with Rachel.

After all, this was the follow-on from the cliffhanger at the end of last year's season.

Viewers who found Friends a bit tired were supposed to follow Ten's intensive publicity campaign for the new reno-reality game show The Hothouse, billed as "Survivor meets The Block".

In fact, the masses went for neither The Hothouse or Friends. The most watched program of the night was a new episode of the US series Queer Eye for the Straight Guy on Ten, which attracted 1.9 million viewers in the mainland capitals at 8.30pm.

Last year, Queer Eye averaged 1.5 million viewers.

Apparently another 400,000 Australians became curious about male makeovers during the silly season.

Next on the night came Friends with 1.7 million, followed by Nine's news and the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle on 1.5 million.

Ten will be mystified by the audience for the launch of The Hothouse: a mere 955,000 in the mainland capitals.

What's the country coming to if we're not attracted by hot bodies, competitive homebuilding and water views in the suburbs of Brisbane.

Could this be the first sign that lifestyle is a finished fad? No, that cannot be. Too much is invested in it for 2004.